Inter-governmental organisations and private sector actors from West Africa will discuss the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the sub-region.

This will take place during a virtual regional forum for West Africa co-organised by the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) on May 26 and 27.

The two-day meeting is part of the implementation of the AfCFTA, which entered its operationalisation phase on January 1, 2021, thus laying the foundations for a process of strengthening intra-African trade.

It will be held in a context, where West African economies are marked by a strong predominance of small and medium-sized companies operating in the informal sector and are not very productive, whose constraints have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and where the role of intergovernmental organisations and the private sector in the effective implementation of the AfCFTA is essential.

Its main objective is to strengthen the state of preparedness and the involvement of sub-regional actors, in particular the Regional Economic Communities, Intergovernmental Organisations and sub-regional private sector platforms, in the implementation of the AfCFTA.

The forum will see the participation of West African intergovernmental organisations and private sector platforms and actors, in particular the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI), the WAEMU Regional Consular Chamber (RCC/WAEMU), and the Federation of West African Employers' Organisations (FOPAO).

Others are the West African Women's Association (AFAO-WAWA), the Young Entrepreneurs' Association of West Africa, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), ECOBANK, the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and regional partners.